The US is worried it can't keep up with China and Russia's submarine fleets

A
Chinese Navy submarine takes part in an international fleet
review to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the
People's Liberation Army Navy in Qingdao, Shandong province April
23, 2009POOL
New/REUTERS

The US is worried that it's submarine fleet is falling behind
China and Russia's as both countries aggressively push to expand
and modernize their navies.

Admiral Harry Harris told the House Armed Services Committee on
Wednesday that US Pacific Command “suffers shortage of
submarines today, my requirements are not being met."

And, according to Foreign Policy, Harris told the committee
that his main concern was that the Pentagon was not managing to
keep pace with its rivals in the region.

Harris directly linked this threat to the rising submarine
powers of Russia and China.

Russia already has the second most capable submarine fleet
in the world after the US, Harris admitted, and he warned that
their capabilities were likely to rise in the coming years as the
US submarine force falters.

Currently, Foreign Policy
notes, the US Navy's shipbuilding plan calls for a fall in
the number of attack submarines from 52 to 41 by 2028 before
"gradually clawing back to 50 by 2044."

As the number of US submarines is expected to fall, China
and Russia are expanding their submarine forces. Russia has
expanded a naval base to allow for new ballistic-missile
submarines in the Northern Pacific.

At the same time, Moscow has also undertaken a
serious push for the expansion and modernization of its
submarine fleet — including the introduction of new submarine
models in both Europe and Asia.

This expansion of the Russian submarine fleet includes more
aggressive submarine posturing throughout the world.

The US had to recently announce plans to
reopen a submarine base in Iceland following reports of
Russia
operating submarines in the North Atlantic at Cold War-era
levels.

And while China's submarine fleet is nowhere at the same
level of capability of the US or Russia, it too is being rapidly
built up. Foreign Policy reports that China has built four new
ballistic missile submarines, and is thought to be constructing
an unknown number of additional vessels.

This construction boom comes amid the US pivot to the
Pacific and China's increasing militarization of the South China
Sea. Most recently, China has
based missiles on a contentious island that China, Taiwan,
and Vietnam all claim.

Amid these ongoing threats, US forces are facing serious
strain as they must operate on multiple fronts in both the
Pacific and the Atlantic. And as the US submarine force shrinks,
and Russia and China's continue to grow, US forces will likely
come under greater and greater stress.